is any of a class of compact, mostly recent (21st century), motorised micromobility vehicle for transporting an individual at speeds that do not normally exceed 25 km/h (16 mph).
They are growing in popularity, and legislators are in the process of determining how these devices should be classified, regulated and accommodated during a period of rapid innovation.
Generally excluded from this legal category are electric bicycles (that are considered to be a type of bicycle); electric motorbikes and scooters (that are treated as a type of motorcycle or moped); and powered mobility aids with 3 or 4 wheels on which the rider sits (which fall within regulations covering powered mobility scooters).
Focus Designs released the first commercially available self-balancing unicycle (which had a seat) in 2008[10] and in 2010 Shane Chen, an American businessman and founder of Inventist, filed a patent for the more familiar and compact seatless device[11] which his company, Inventis launched in 2011.
[12] Chen then went on to file a patent for a self-balancing scooter in February 2013,[13] and launched a Kickstarter fund-raising campaign in May 2013[14] with multiple companies, mainly in China releasing similar products.
[17][20] In 2012 ZBoard raised nearly 30 times their target for a balance controlled electric skateboard on Kickstarter,[21] which was well received at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2013.
[51] These batteries, which have good energy density, energy-to-mass ratio provide the range, torque, operational life required,[52] unlike the previously available lead–acid, NiMH and NiCad technologies.
Many of these devices use brushless DC electric motors with permanent magnets attached to the moving hub which turns around a fixed armature which offer high efficiency, good speed-torque characteristics and low weight.
The type Segway x2 reaches with its bigger wheels 84 cm width and is, therefore, an electric vehicle, that needs a license and insurance.
The ministry was preparing a legal change which would mention PT Segway and skateboards explicitly in the definition of a pedestrian (which should cover also unicycles and roller shoes implicitly).
Since 21 March 2016, a new ordinance of the Ministry of Transport, 84/2016 Sb., which introduced several new road signs, is in force:[73] Kick scooters are explicitly considered as bicycles by law.
Segways are used by municipal police corps in several cities as Prague, Plzeň, Olomouc, Karlovy Vary, Znojmo and Slaný.
[78] Similarly, Segways were prohibited in the area of the Tyrš House at Malá Strana, the main building of the Czech organization of Sokol.
According to the marking project by TSK (the Prague road management organization), 610 zone signs were installed at 250 places, at the expense of 4 million CZK.
[86] Segway PTs are classified as low-power mopeds and therefore require license plates, effectively banning the use on public roads.
On 31 March 2015, The Ministry of Transport and Communications of Finland started progress to propose changes to law to allow Segways under 25 km/h on sidewalks and reclassifying them as bicycles.
Because it is considered as a type of motor vehicle the rider would need a test certificate from the Technical Inspection Agency (Technischer Überwachungsverein) to get insurance.
[98] In April 2008, the Dutch Government announced that it would ease the ban it had imposed in January 2007 that made it illegal to use a Segway PT on public roads in the Netherlands.
[102][103] Segways became legal in Norway on 1 July 2014 on all public roads with speed limits 20 km/h or less, sidewalks and bicycle lanes for ages 16 and older without requiring registration or insurance.
The driver of the personal transport device is obliged to use the cycle path if it is designated for the direction in which it is moving or intends to turn.
[106] Segway PTs are legal on public paths from age 18 (and below, when accompanied by adults) as an equivalent to pedestrian traffic[107] and are used by local police forces,[108] and by Polícia Marítima] (a Navy unit), for beach patrolling.
An exception is made for handicapped individuals, who must obtain in advance a special authorization from the Swiss Federal Roads Office.
[118] While in opposition in 2008, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats lobbied the Labour Government to change the law to allow Segways to use public cycle lanes.
[119] In July 2010, a man was charged under the Highway Act 1835 in Barnsley for riding his Segway on the pavement, and was prosecuted and fined £75 in January 2011.
[125] In Ontario, the Ministry of Transportation started a pilot program allowing Segways to be used by people 14 years or older with a disability, Canada Post door-to-door delivery personnel, and police officers.
[39] University of California, Los Angeles included Hoverboards in a general restriction on the use of bicycles, scooters and skateboards using walkways and hallways in November 2015.
[142][143] Other states in Australia have yet to make a clear decision or announcement on legality and enforcement, and are relying on existing laws in place.
In the Australian Capital Territory, use of Segways is illegal on roads and other public places, but, as of June 2012[update], was permitted around Canberra's Lake Burley Griffin and other tourist attractions, subject to training, safety equipment and speed limit requirements.
"In simple terms, riders are way too exposed to mix with general traffic on a road and too fast, heavy and consequently dangerous to other users on footpaths or cycle paths.
In Western Australia, the law enables Electric Personal Transporters (EPT) (Segways) to be used as part of a supervised commercial tour, being run by an operator that holds the appropriate approvals.